Hunted Hunter
by Shiro Ashikabi
Summary: Veteran hunter Kaito sets out on a quest that seems completely normal but...
1. Prologue

It was a perfect day, clear skies, sunny day, and a nice cool breeze blowing.

It was an excellent day for hunting, and lo and behold, the village elder had a quest in store for me. It looked like his son spotted a Rathian nesting on the higher parts of Moga Woods, and he wanted me to get rid of her before she attracted more trouble, meaning that sooner or later, Rathalos would make an appearance and completely ruin our hunting grounds.

I'm not one to brag, but I was experienced in dealing with the Dragonlady, I even had the Wyverian Artist create my special armor from the many materials I had gotten from hunting several of them. Since I wanted this fight to be interesting, I picked up my Sabertooth lance, a weapon I had not used in a while, and began my preparations.

Since this was not an official Guild quest, I went to the village elder after checking my supplies, feeling a tad uncomfortable about taking a

weapon with the wrong elemental affinity for the hunt.

"Hey, I'll be setting out soon." I greeted the elder

"Very well, I'll be expecting you to bring the Queen here." He said in his usual playful manner

"I won't be capturing her…"

After that brief exchange of words, I hurried over to Moga Woods; this was going to be a quick and easy quest.

Running through the Woods, I was surprised at the lack of small monsters in the vicinity; the path I take to the nesting area is usually crowded with Jaggi, and a few Jaggia. I didn't even see any Aptonoth while leaving the village, just a few Kelbi here and there. I shook off the uneasy feeling welling up inside me while climbing the last bit before my destination, and that's when I heard the Rathian give her signature roar.

"That is definitely not normal." I told myself and hurried.

What I saw when I reached my destination left me speechless.

つづく...


	2. Chapter 1

The Rathian was already being engaged by…a huntress…? It was nobody I had ever seen before, and her beautiful armor accentuated her elegant movements as she was drawing an unusual weapon that likewise was unknown to my eyes. She dodged every attack the Queen was attempting while she rained death on her majesty. Before I knew, the Rathian was already giving her last breaths and dropped to the floor. This girl, whoever she was, had just done my job, and I just stood there, unable to wipe the amazed expression from my face.

Just as I came to my senses after witnessing such a spectacle, I realized that the huntress was looking my way, I felt as if she was calling me, but maybe I was just drawn to her amazing skills and beauty…

I approached carefully, even if she was a fellow hunter, I felt uneasy. It was to be expected, I had closed off my heart to the world under a veil of trust issues. When I finally reached her, she had finished carving the lifeless creature and was sitting down nonchalantly. The words could not escape my mouth, and I just managed to utter an unintelligible sound.

"What happened? Felyne got your tongue?" Her voice was like a soothing bell.

"Who…who are you?"

"Oh, introductions, right." She stood up and offered her hand.

I took her hand, and immediately felt the warmth it emanated; I did not expect her hand to be so soft, not with the type of weapon she used. Without even thinking, the next lines just came out naturally, as if I had known this person for a long time.

"My name is Kaito"

"I'm Renko, nice to meet you."

"What are you doing here?"

"The better question would be where I am from and why I am here" Her expression turned dark.

"I figured you would not like me intruding so much, so I refrained to ask such questions."

"Enough about that, aren't you going to get some carves?" She was clearly avoiding the topic, so I retained any further questioning on that matter.

"I did not participate in the hunt, so I don't have the right."

"Oh well…" To be honest, there were questions that I definitely had to have answered.

"By the way, what is that weapon you wield? And that armor…"

"This?" She held up the item in question "This is my weapon of choice, the Bow. Also, I'm wearing my favorite set, the Butterfly Armor."

"Hmm…" I analyzed the unknown sight. While we had the ones called Bowguns, weapons for those who prefer fighting at a distance, this was my first time seeing a different type of ranged weapon.

"I can assume you're not just a lance-user?" Her voice crashed my train of thought.

"Oh, right. I use various blademaster weapons, to balance raw and elemental power."

"What a pain, you should just concentrate on a single weapon or two."

Despite her appearance, she sure has a sharp tongue. After a few moments of idle chat, I decided to finally make my move.

"It looks like you could use some rest, I could show you the way to my village."

"I'm not particularly tired, but I'll take your offer, I'm curious about this place."

As we made our way back to the village, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was not over, I felt like my life as a hunter had just begun, with this fateful encounter.


	3. Chapter 2

After a minute of arguing, I gave in to her request of showing her around Moga Woods. It suddenly struck my head that I did not have a map to physically represent the places we would be passing by.

"You should be familiar with the guild-issued maps and how they are structured, so I can get right to the point. We are currently in 8 and are going to take a long detour through other areas to get to the main attraction." I said.

"You just forgot your map, didn't you?" I felt disappointment and a bit of malice in her voice.

"I didn't forget it, that Rathian you hunted wasn't from an official guild quest, she just flew to our Woods and I was to drive it away or hunt it as a favor to the village chief. I didn't get any supplies from the guild."

"That still doesn't fully explain why you don't have your _own _map."

"I know this place by heart; I've been the village's only hunter for years." This was turning into another argument, and I didn't want to waste any more time.

"Do you even have enough space left to carry a map?"

"Why don't we drop the conversation and start walking?" I had to make my voice sound firm.

"Alright, I was getting tired of hearing your voice anyway." Even if she meant that as a joke, it hurt.

We made our way through 7 over to 3, stopping at the entrance to 4.

"Do you mind dark places?" I asked.

"After my various encounters with Khezu, I've learned to like caves." She surprised me with her confidence, so I forgot to ask her about that odd name she used."

Halfway through the dark corridors of 4, she began another conversation with a question that took me by surprise.

"Do you… have a girlfriend?" I became flustered and I felt my face redden a bit, though I was thankful that it was quite dark.

"I do not have anyone like that, and I don't think I've ever felt love." I answered with honesty, but my voice betrayed me and I sounded a tad shaky.

"You're a strange person…" The tone she used for that short phrase was low, so I could barely make out what she had just said.

The rest of the way through the cave was accompanied by silence, until we came across the Jaggi's nest in 6, where the silence was broken by

the noise of our weapons as we quickly dealt with the few Jaggi and Jaggia that lurked there.

Upon entering 5, I heard the roar of the Great Jaggi and swiftly drew my weapon.

"What was that?" I heard Renko ask.

"It's a Great Jaggi, nothing to worry about; we should be able to kill it quickly."

"Alright, let's do this."

The nuisance perished briskly and we took a moment to rest before heading to 9.

"How much longer to this place you want to take me to?" She didn't sound annoyed, to my surprise.

"It's just after 9, over there." I pointed to our destination.

"I really hope this is worth it, the sun is beginning to set."

What she said was true, so we had to quicken our pace, and before long, night was upon us, but the breathtaking sight of 10's watery landscape and the moonlight illuminating the place accentuated its beauty. It is a sight I will never get tired of.

The Epioth surfacing from the deep waters snapped us back to reality.

"What a sublime sight." Renko was the first to speak.

"This is my favorite place, and I forgot to tell you something."

"What is it?"

I stretched my hand to her and turned towards the sea.

"Welcome to Moga."


End file.
